Refrigerating apparatus



I 4 1,646,919 U h 9 C. E. L. LHPMAN I w I REFRIGERATING: zxmmwus Original Filed March 6. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet BY g A ITORNEY.

Oct. 25 1927. 1,646,919

C. E. L. LIPMAN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Ori inal File Marph e. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet BY g ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 25,1927.

marlin sr rEs CARL E. L. LIrMAn, or narrow, WISCONSIN.

REFRIGEBATING APPARATUS.

Original application filed March 6, 1926, Serial No. 92,704. Divided and 'thisapplicatibn filed August 5,

1927. Serial No. 210,943.

This application is a divisional application of my copending application Ser. No.

92,704, filed March 6, 1926.

This invention relates in general to mechanical refrigerating apparatus and while the principles thereof may be utilized in apparatus of various sizes and characters designed for many purposes my invention particularly is adapted for small refrigerating installations adapted to be used in homes and commonly known as household refrigerators.

The demand for household refrigerators for use in houses and apartments is rapidly increasing, but one of the deterrent factors of the household refrigerator business has been the servicing, expense. Dealers in household refrigerators have been obliged to maintain a service department consisting of highly trained and skilled men capable of not only repairing refrigerating apparatus but of diagnosing the troubles which arise in connection with apparatus of this character. This servicing expense must eventually be borne by the householder either in the increased price which he initially pays for his refrigerating apparatus or as an upkeep expense during the operation of the apparatus. 7

One of the primary purposes of my present invention is to eliminate the burdensome servicingcost which has heretofore been an inherent factor of household refrigeration and to relieve the dealer entirely of the necessity of maintaining the service department or even men skilled in the art of refrigeration.

With this end in view my invention contemplates the provision of a refrigerating unit which is completely assembled at the factory and may be shipped and handled as any other commodity or article of merchandise might be, this unit as a whole being adapted to be inserted in a refri' erator cabinet and be put in service'by simp y connecting the cabinet up with an electric circuit. Should the apparatusfail to work forany reason or should it become worn so as to require repairs the householder needs simply to withdraw the unit from his cabinet andexchange it with his dealer. for another unit which may he slipped into the cabinet to replace the faulty one. This" exchange requires no skilled labor whatsoever and can be eflected in a few moments.

ment or of skilled labor, thereby greatly reducing not only the initial cost of a refrigerator installation but also the maintenance cost.

hile my invention is not restricted to any particular type of refrigerating apparatus and contemplates the employment of apparatus of the compressor type, the

absorption type or the adsorption type, I

have for purposes of illustration merely shown and described herein a simplesystem of the compressor type as illustrative of the general principles of my invention.

My invention and many of its inherent advantages in addition to those above mentioned should be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a refrigerating cabinet equipped with my invention, a portion of the cabinet'being removed to more clearly illustrate the inclosed apparatus, i

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of 1,

Fig. 3-is a perspective view of my novel unit removed from the cabinet,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a modified' is the drawings more in;

detail reference character 5 indicates generally a refrigerating cabinet of any approved type preferably including in its'construc- .tion, as is customary, suitable heat insulating material which contributes to the efli ciency'of the cabinet.

The cabinet may be equipped with the usual shelves and partitions to facilitate the;

storage of perishable products and in the 5 return line 16, as is customary.

form herein illustrated itis provided in its upper portion with horizontally extending cleats or members 6 forming guide-ways for the rece tion of a support or partition wall 8 inclu ing in its construction suitable heat insulating material. While in the par- .ticular cabinet disclosed the guideways are horizontally disposed to support the partition in a horizontal position, it should be understood that the guide-Ways may be positioned to receive and sustain the partition wall in a vertical position without in any way departing from the spirit of my invention. a

The partition or supportin wall 8 constitutes one of the elements 0 my refrigerating unit which is removable as a whole and intact from the cabinet and replaceable by a similar unit when desired. The unit comprises, therefore, this supporting wall and a complete refrigerating system, preferably of the closed refrigerant circuit type carried by and removable with the wall.

This wall when in place divides the cabinet into two compartments, one of which indicated by reference character 9 is the food compartment or chamber and the other of which indicated by ll constitu tes what may be termed the compressing and condensing chamber. It should" be understood by, the term compressing and condensing I- do not intend to limit the apparatus employed-to compression type, but that the term compressing and condensing is employed ge-.

'nerically to include both the absorption and adsorption type, a still, or any other apparatus which serves to generate the refrigcrating action through the intermediary of a suitable refrigerating medium.

The refrigerating system, as previously stated, is carried by and removable with the wall 8 and the system shown herein for illustrative purposes merely comprises a motor and compressor 12 and a condenser 13 constituting broadly the apparatus included in the high pressure or condensing side of the stem and an expansion valve or float chamber 14 through which the refrigerant is admitted to the expansion chamber 15 if the apparatus be of the flooded type or to coils if the system be of the expansion valve type. The refrigerating element 15, either a receptacle or coils as previously stated, is connected with the compressor 12. throu 'h the The refrigerating element 15 surrounds suitable compartments 17 adapted to receive the ice trays 18 in which iceis produced in a well .known manner. If desired these compartments may be'surrounded or immersed in brine or like material. 1 It will 'beapparent that the apparatus comprising the high-pressure or condensing side of the system is. located on one side of the supporting wall 8 the compartment 11, while the refrigerating element consti- V tuting the low pressure orevaporating side of the apparatus is located on the opposite side of the supporting wall 8 and in communication with the perishable product storage chamberof the cabinet where refrigeration is desired. To facilitate air circulation in the storage chamber, baffles 19 may be arranged adjacent the refrigerating element asnllustrated in the drawings, these baiiles being carried preferably by the cabinet or by the supporting wall 8 if found more ex pedient.

The refrigerating system may be 'either water cooled or air cooled and if water cooled a slip connection may be provided through which the cooling apparatus may be connected with the water system by the inserting of the removable unit into the cabinet.v In the present instance, I have illustrated an air cooled system and for the purpose of obtaining the requisite cooling I have mounted upon the wall 8 near one side thereof and within the chamber 11 an elec 'tric or blower the compressor are electrically driven, connection with the electric circuit is automatically established when the supporting wall 8 is slid into position. To accomplish this result a slip connection 25 comprising a.

part mounted on the rear Wall of the chamber 11 and a part mounted on the upper face of the supporting wall 8 is employed and the cabinet is Wired from this connection to an outside socket 26 which may be readily connected with an electric lighreircuit through a plug and socket connection. It will be noted that the electrical motor 21 for operating the fan is entirely independent of the motor 12 for operating the compressor. While I have disclosed the separate motors for operating the fan and compressor, respectively,

as being connected in series, yet in actual practice it is probably preferable to connect the same in parallel.

It ,will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a refrigerating unit which is readily insertable into and removable from a cabinet as a whole without disconnecting or disturbing the arrangement of the various elements of the unit. These units may be assembled at the factory and shipped intact to the dealer who handles 15 so that warm air from the outside doesweenie them as any other commodity without attention to repairs or service. The'user, if the unit fails, simply removes it from the cabinet and replaces it with another unit which he obtains from his dealer. The defective unit is returned to the factory where it is quickly repaired by those skilled in this art and it may then be reinstalled for further use.

While the partition wall 8 may alone be relied upon to seal the generator chamber 11 from the storage chamber, I prefer, for purposes ofefficiency, to make this seal more effective by providing an auxiliary sealing wall 2f? which may be and preferably is a part of the unit as a whole. This'wall incorporziting in its construction heat insulating material, is secured to the front edge of the supporting wall 8 and whenthe'unit is positioned Within the cabinet the margins of this wall abutagainst cleats 28 arranged within the cabinet, as shown in the drawings. When the unit is in place, therefore, the generating chamber 11 is effectually sealed from the storage chamber 9 and the opening of the cabinet door 29 does not permit the flow of Warm air from the generating chamber downwardly into the storage chamber to reduce the etiiciency of the installation. Preferably also,'this wall extends downward- 1y to a point below the refrigerating element the usual hinges 32 and latch 33, and this door has a portion which overlaps the front wall or partition of the refrigerator to edectually seal the said compartment. The refrigerating unit'and its parts which have been described are mounted in precisely the same manner as those shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the auxiliary sealing wall 27 is made to fit flush with the front wall or partition of the refrigerator proper and is provided on the outer side thereof with a member 34 which has flanges 35 for fitting over and around the opening into which the said sealing wall is adapted to fit. In such cases, the small ice tray compartments 18 will be provided with a door 36 which is hinged as at 37 to cover the said compartment, and this door is provided with the usual heat insulating material which can be observed at the point 38, in Fig. 5. By the use of this construction, the large door cover ing the entire refrigerator is eliminated and one or more small doors may be used for gaining access 'to the food compartment,

forward horizontally by grasping the handles 39 in thesame manner as the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the door 29 will be eliminated and the entire cabinet will not be. opened to the atmosphere when it is desired to gain access to any particular part of the interior.

The construction, operation, and many of the inherent advantages of my invention should be apparent from the foregoing without further description and while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment, obviously the details of construction, arrangement of walls and type of apparatus employed may all be varied within Wide limits without departing from the essence of my invention as defined in the following claims.

What ll claim is:

1. In a refrigerating apparatus the combination of a cabinet, a partition wall of heat insulating material removably disposed in said cabinet, a refrigerating device carried by and removable with said Wall, the apparatus comprising the high pressure side of the-device being disposed at one side of said wall and the apparatus comprising the low pressure side of the device being disposed at the opposite side of said wall, and an electric circuit connected with the apparatus for driving the same including a connection closed by theinsertion of said removable wall into place and broken by the removal of said wall.

2. The combination witha cabinet having an opening therein, a refrigerating apparatus insertable and removable into and from said cabinet through the said opening therein, said refrigerating apparatus comprising a compressor, a condenser coil operatively associated with said compressor, a compres 'while the refrigerating unit may be drawn sor motor, means for air-cooling said condenser and compressor, said means including a fan, an electric motor for said fan, a thermostat electrically connected with both the fan and compressor motors respectively, whereby said motors are operated concurrently, electrical circuits connected with said motors including a connection with said cabinet which is automatically broken by the removal of said apparatus from said cabinet.

3. The combination with a refrigerating cabinet, a unit comprising a support, a compressor, a compresser motor mounted on said support, means for hermetically sealing the said motor and compressor, a condenser mounted on said support means for air cooling said condenser comprising an electric fan and a motor therefor mounted on said support, an electrical circuit connected with said motors for actuating said motors concurrently, said support and refrigerating apparatus thereon being removable as a unit from the cabinet in which the same are adapted to be placed, said circuits including a connection that is broken by theremoval of-the apparatus from the cabinet. 4, The combination with a cabinet having an opening therein, a refrigerating unit comprising a compressor and an electric motor for driving said compressor, an electric circuit for said motor including a con-' nection automatically closed upon theinser- 'tion of said unit through the opening into said cabinet and broken upon the removal of the unit from the cabinet.

. 5. The combination with -a refrigerating cabinet, of a mechanical refrigerating apparatus including a compressor associated with the cabinet, said refrigerating apparatus beingremovable from the'cabinet as a unit without disturbing the relation of .the parts of the apparatus, electrical means for actuating said compressor, an electrical circuit connected with the means for actuating the compressor and including a knife switch connection between the unit and cabinet to automatically break the circuit upon the removal of the unit from the cabinet.

6. The combination with a refrigerating cabinet, of an opening therein, a mechanical refrigerating apparatus including a compressor horizontally insertable and removable, as a unit, into said cabinet through said opening, electrical means for, actuating said compressor, a circuit for supplying electrical energy to the said electrical means and including a connection serving to automatically breakthe circuit upon the removal of the unit from the cabinet.

7. The combination with are frigerating cabinet, of a refrigerating unit comprising contacts carried by the support of said unit,;

said contacts being brought into operative relationship when the unit is in its inserted position. a 4

8. The combination with a refrigerating cabinet, having an opening therein, a unitary assemblage of refrigerating apparatus includinga. compressor bodily insertable and removable into and iromsaid cabinet through said opening, electrical means for driving the compressor, an electrical circuit for supplying current to operate the appa ratus, including a switch connection for automatically breaking'the circuitrupon the removal of the unitary assemblage from the cabinet.

. In-witness of the foregoing I my signature.

f CARL E.- L. LIPMAN, 

